A Dash of Fictional Realism

Hammond, 6:30 P.M.

The Rouge Residence

"Louise go get your brother! Supper's ready!" a blonde woman shouted to her daughter from the kitchen doorway. Louise, who had only just walked through the door after a long day at college, sighed in annoyance before saying,

"Okay Mom." Too tired and annoyed to bother doing anything else, Louise dropped her backpack on the floor, kicking off her shoes, and trudged down the hallway to fetch her brother. Why did she have to do this, she just spent the whole day doing actual work. Her brother Joseph had come home for spring break because his school had let out for the holidays earlier than hers – lucky dog! She knocked softly on his door and waited until he started to open it to yell, "Joe-Joe, supper's ready!" Louise had quite a set of lungs on her; needless to say her brother glared at her as he checked to make sure his ears weren't bleeding.

"Do you have to yell like a toddler on a sugar high every time you need something?" he asked darkly as he scowled at her. She smirked, quite pleased with herself, and was about to heckle him even more when she noticed something strange behind him.

"What's that?" Louise asked while pointing to a rather odd machine that was sitting in the middle of her brother's room. It didn't look anything like the other engineering projects he'd built over the years.

"Oh, that?" Joseph smirked at her. "It's just my latest project. You wouldn't understand, even if I explained it to you." He brushed past her and started towards to kitchen. "By the way, you touch it, and you're dead!" He called back at her. Well after that last jibe Louise just had to mess with it now (Sibling rivalry and all that). She stuck her tongue out at him even though he couldn't see it and approached the machine. It didn't look any more complex than anything else she had ever seen him make, but then a gain she was an art major, and he was a genius electrical engineer from the womb. She reached out to poke it, but before she could do anything, the machine suddenly came to life and she felt as tough an electrical current was running through her finger to the rest of her body. There was a bright flash, and then pain.

John
woke with a start as he realized he forgot he had to be at the clinic
that day. He quickly jumped out of bed, threw on his clothes, and rushed
out of his room. John noticed Sherlock was already in the kitchen
performing one of his experiments as he called out his hurried goodbye,
but before he could reach the door, something rather strange happened.
There was a zapping sound like crackling electricity. Then a very faint,
transparent figure appeared. As the figure rapidly became more solid
and opaque, John realized it was a young girl. Once she was completely
solid, her body hit the floor with a thud. The girl groaned and a loud
"ow" was heard. John reacted to this in a perfectly normal fashion – he
freaked out. John was shocked into silence by the strange event
unfolding before his eyes.

Sherlock had been admittedly surprised
to see a girl materialize out of thin air in his flat, but he quickly
collected himself and began deducing her. He watched as the girl picked
herself up off the floor into a sitting position and glance around the
room as though searching for something. The girl was blond with hazel
eyes, short, and appeared to be much younger than him. She was obviously
confused and disorientated as she started taking inventory of her new
environment. She didn't look particularly surprised when she saw the
clutter about their flat, she must be used to it. When she saw the skull
however, she was more than just a little surprised, but she also looked
a little amused. After seeping her eyes over the mantle her eyes
stopped on himself and John. The girl's eyes widened as she finally
realized she was not alone. She nervously glanced between the two men –
the two strange men – that she was suddenly alone in an
unfamiliar room with. Her eyes darted to the door just as Sherlock
spoke. "John, shouldn't you be off to the clinic now?"

John seemed
to finally snap out of his stupor. "Oh, right – Christ I'm late!" he
shouted as he grabbed his coat and ran out the door. John had to admit
he was relieved to have an excuse to escape from such a strange and
impossible occurrence. He wasn't worried about Sherlock, after the
incident at the pool with Moriarty, John was sure Sherlock could handle
himself. He did feel a bit guilty about leaving that poor girl alone
with Sherlock. He might dissect her…

The girl looked startled at
John's sudden departure and she stared after him for a few moments
before looking back at Sherlock. "Um, I'm sorry," she said smiling
apologetically, "but could you tell me where I am and who you are? I'm
Louise by the way." Sherlock stared at her for a moment before replying,

"My
name is Sherlock Holmes, The man who just left is John Watson, and you
are in our flat, 221B Baker St., London, England." Louise just stared at
him in utter shock. Sherlock supposed the reality of her situation had
not completely sunk in until she heard her current location. Judging by
her accent and clothing brands, she was from America, specifically
somewhere in the south.

"England!" Louise cried, "I'm in England? You – you're Sherlock Holmes? And I suppose Mr. Watson is actually Dr. Watson just
back from Afghanistan?" She was shooting him an extremely incredulous
look. Sherlock was a bit surprised. Why was she so surprised to hear
their names? She also managed to figure out that Watson was a doctor,
not that it wasn't completely obvious, but most people were rather slow.
She probably just read John's blog or found his website, but still, he was bored. Why not drag this out a bit longer?

"Why
did you react that way to our names?" Sherlock asked her. She visibly
relaxed slightly and shook her head before replying a bit sheepishly,

"Right,
sorry about that. I'm just feeling kind of over whelmed with all the
weirdness. Your parents must have been big Doyle fans, huh?"

"Doyle
who?" Sherlock asked. He honestly had no idea what she was talking
about, and found himself a bit peeved when she stared at him like he was
and idiot. Louise blinked and raised her eyebrows as she said,

"Sir Arthur Conan Doyle? You really don't know? I mean he's the one who wrote all of the Sherlock Holmes novels."

"There
are novels about me?" Sherlock asked. Whoever this Doyle was, he
certainly had not gotten Sherlock's permission. He was facing some
serious copyright infringements. Louise frowned.

"No, not about you, Sherlock Holmes, the fictional ace detective and his fictional
faithful sidekick and friend Dr. John Watson. Even though he's not a
real person, He's still considered to be one of the greatest detectives
of all time. I even bought a deerstalker hat because of him." she said
very seriously and went on to list several of these stories. Sherlock
actually blinked. This man was apparently not only writing about
characters with the exact same names as John and him, but he was not
even creating his own plots – I mean A Study In Scarlet? It was just what John had written for his blog entry A Study In Pink,
but he set it during the 1800s instead. Which was when Louise claimed
he actually wrote it. Sherlock thought for a moment that maybe he had
just deleted this information after hearing it before, but the parallels
were just too strong. It was slightly unsettling, and what was the
significance of the hat? Sherlock didn't answer her. Instead, he left
his place in the kitchen and swept over to his laptop, well John's
laptop, his was in the bedroom. He opened the internet browser and
started searching for in formation on "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle". Louise
just stared after him before she suddenly remembered something very
important. She forgot to call her family and let them know she was okay.
She pulled out her cellphone to make the call, but when she looked at
the screen, it said "activation required". This was very strange. She'd
had the phone for months now, and it never gave her any problems. She
had even just used it an hour ago to let her mother know she was leaving
school. Louise looked back at Sherlock who was staring intently at his
computer screen.

"Can I borrow your phone?" she asked, "Please? I
promise I'll pay you back for whatever long distance charges I run up on
it." Sherlock tossed her his phone. She fumbled with it before finally
catching it. She quickly dialed her home phone number as Sherlock
watched her. He was staring so intensely it was making her even more
nervous. Louise heard her mother answer the phone. "Hi Mom, it's me,
Louise," she said smiling. Then her face fell. "What do you mean Louise
who? I'm your one and only daughter. I'm calling to tell you – W-What?
Wait!" Louise pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it in
shock. She looked up at Sherlock, stunned and said, " She didn't
recognize me. She didn't recognize me, and she said she doesn't have a
daughter. She told me her daughter "Louise Rouge" was still born
twenty-one years ago." She swallowed. "I'm twenty-one," she said,
"I could hear my dad and my brother laughing in the background. They're
not worried about my sudden disappearing act at all."

"Your full
name is Louise Rouge?" Sherlock asked. Louise just stared at him. She
just told him her family was treating her like a stranger, and that is what he noticed?

"Yeah,"
she answered recovering from her shock, "My full name is Louise Marie
Rouge." Sherlock immediately typed this into the search engine. "Did you
just google me?" She asked.

"Yes." He answered her absentmindedly
as he read the new information appearing on his screen, or rather the
lack of information. Louise came to stand behind him and leaned over as
she read over his shoulder. What she saw only added to her confusion.
Nothing. There was absolutely no information popping up on her. There
were some articles on her aunt, Louise Françoise, from when she was a
nurse, but there was nothing about her. Her friends had googled
her before and they told her tons of stuff had popped up about her
achievements at school and her work on the Deviant Art website, but now
it was like she had been completely erased. She mentioned this to
Sherlock. Sherlock was not surprised after he had overheard her
conversation with her mother and the results of his previous search.

"Nothing came up when I searched for Doyle either." He told her

"What?"
She asked. Louise was beyond confused and way too upset from her series
of consecutive shocks to even attempt to keep up with Sherlock.
Sherlock sighed impatiently as he realized Louise was on a downward
spiral that would eventually make her very difficult to deal with.
Perhaps he shouldn't have reminded John to leave. John was more
accustomed to handling people than he was. He was also reluctant to
share his theory on Louise's sudden appearance here because it was
utterly ridiculous. It was impossible. Then again it was supposed
to be impossible for a human being to suddenly materialize out of thin
air too. "Do you know what's happening?" Louise asked him hesitantly.
Sherlock looked at her and said,

"Tell me about the events leading up to your arrival at our flat, leave nothing out."

Gayle Gunderson Boyce:
I loved the book. Couldn't stop reading it. The story was good with a strong build up of suspense and sense of urgency to catch the killer. All clues pointed to Talbot yet enough things didn't add up to keep us looking and thinking. Jack Creed is a likeable character with lots of gut experience. ...

Brandy:
What a great take on the idea of finding your dream man. The story was very emotional with strong characters. I would recommend this story to any who wants to read a good love story. And yes, Italian food does make everything better.

mariamalkorashy:
Simply alluring, I have become addicted. Now the rest of this message is simply words because it notified me saying that my Review was to short haha. It has done it again so yup I am still here writing once more haha.

Lydia Sherrer:
I first read The Speaker almost a decade ago when I first discovered author Sandra Leigh. I loved it then, and I still love it now. It is a simple, easy read, yet deep in meaning and rich in storyline. I do not know what kind of research or prior knowledge Leigh has of First Nation tribes, but sh...

nikole carr:
After starting and stopping several books tonight, this book caught my attention from the very beginning and i stayed up until 6 a.m. to finish reading. The plot has many twists and the sexual scenes keep it interesting, too. im a florida native so the Caribbean location is fun to read about. th...

Lydia Walters:
I really enjoyed this novel. It gives us a view of what could be if we really tried.Also that there's nothing wrong with loving our LORD and our fellow humans. couldn't wait to get to each new chapter (mission). Thanks, Joe!

MissMadokaKaname:
I was impressed and moved by this work. The characterization and dialog were strong, and really brought everyone in the story to life. Also, the setting was handled in a believable and compelling way. The story captured the complexities and pain of love, and also the harshness of living in such b...

Deleted User:
(A review in progress). I like this. It's sparse, gritty and atmospheric - reminiscent of the classic Golden Age of American detective fiction of the Thirties. I've only read the beginning, but I'll definitely be back. This writer knows their stuff and has done their homework on detective work. T...

Sara Grover:
When I first started reading, it was a bit slow; though only because it was so information intense and fast-paced in trying to describe how this complex galactic corporation/government like entity controls known space. I would suggest maybe adding a preface to better educate the reader to help av...

OpheliaJones:
This story took a different kind of spin on the "normal girl lives with definitely not normal guy" plot. The plot points of Frey's father, Liam's family, and Frey's view of Liam's world were good to read. She did not fall in love with him in the first couple weeks. Their lives were not smooth in ...

Samantha Speed:
There were several punctuation, grammar, and missing word problems but it did not detract from the story. This story was very well done, enjoyable, and had an interesting enough plot. It took a while to finish. This story is not complete. I love it, but I want to see another book or have more cha...

RodRaglin:
Your writing is very good, Rachel, but remember you also have to entertain the reader and in that regard it's a bit sparse in action and dialogue.Consider when revising...When starting a new story always consider your protagonist's Goal - what they want; Motivation - why they want it; and, Confli...

dd1226:
I love reading about other countries and I think this story about Cambodia after Polpot creates awareness of the tragedy that happened there and the actions of the U.N. to hold elections. The heroine of the story is easy to relate to, a modern, middleaged woman looking for an adventure, wanting t...

Other Collections

About Us:

Inkitt is the world’s first reader-powered book publisher, offering an online community for talented authors and book lovers. Write captivating stories, read enchanting novels, and we’ll publish the books you love the most based on crowd wisdom.